February 7, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. The Super Bowl.

Perhaps this evening we should call it The Bust Bowl. I like a game with high scoring and good plays. I hate penalties. I like the game to be competitive so either team might win the game. Todays there was nothing to like. It looked as though the Varsity team was playing the Junior Varsity. The game this evening was a bust. Ken and I have watched every Super bowl. The first game was played when we lived in Galverstn, before the boys were born. We had no television so we were invited to the home of our friends Lenore and Bev Ittman. They had three children, all teenagers and all active. And they rented an old house in Galveston. I worked with Lenore, she as a teacher and I a recreation therapist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Lenore and Bev were great fun as were their children. And they were busy. They also paid no attention to their house. Now in Galveston, in order to keep your kitchen free of roaches, you were forced to be fastidious. No one in that house paid no mind to the kitchen. During the middle of the game, I walked into the kitchen to get more food. I turned on the light. I could see the bugs scurring around trying to hide. And I could hear them, the same sound as you hear when scratching on the wall. I turned off the light and returned to the game and told Ken that we did not need more food. I never entered the kitchen again. I have seen every Super Bowl. I have been to big parties and small parties and in homes and restauraunts. The first Super Bowl was the most memorable, not because of the game but because of the roaches in the kitchen. I learned to make noise and turn on the lights before entering the kitchen of an old house. I still remember the noise and the motion. Yuck.

February 6, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. Simple Pleasure.

Walking on the balcony in the evening brings me a simple pleasure. The lights are good so I have no problem seeing where I am going even thought it is dark. And the weather is cooler in the evening so I stay comfortable when walking. Walking in the morning is my least favorite time of the day due to the sun shining on the balcony. So I am more comfortable in the evening. And I like the night sounds. I can hear people chatting as they walk out for dinner. And I even enjoy the sounds of the cars and buses as they head down the main road. I play that game to try to figure out if the noise is a bus, a truck or a car. And of course, in the distance I can see lots of lights. The sight is lovely. But what brings me most pleasure is the live music coming from The Riviera Grill, the closest reaturant to me across the street. My building curves areoun and as I make the curve I can hear the music. And I smile. One lady sings twice a week. She has a beautiful voice, that I can hear easily from my balcony. Last year I was invited by my neighbors to have dinner in that restaurant. The lady started singing when we were almost finished our dinner. She was wonderful. Now I hear her when I walk on the balcony. A Mexican group plays twice a week too and I enjoy them too because I can hear them esily. But another man who sings and plays his guitar sings so quietly that I can not hear him well. I feel like calling them to tell him to put up his volume. Certainly, it is worth walking on the balcony for me to listen to the music. I will walk a couple of extra laps just to continue to listen. And it does not cost me a penny. It is a simple plesure for sure.

February 5, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. Evaluation.

When falling asleep last evening, I evaluated my function, starting at my head and ending at my feet. I was trying to predict how I would be doing in May 2022 when I would be taking the cruises, first up the St. Lawrence River to Totonto, then to Georgian Bay and the Great Lakes. I start in Portland, Maine and end in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I must make a decision so I did an evaluation of myself. My head seems to be fine with little changes in two years. My speech does not seem any worse. Since my stroke when I lost my words I have had troucle finding the right words but I have gotten better over the years. No problem with my head I thought. This past year I have developed a tremor in my right arm, but only when I am holding something. When I hold my hand in front of me I have no tremor but when I pick up a glass, my hand shakes. It does not seem to effect my function so I will ignore it. My eyes are not getting worse either. I still have issues, but nothing has changed. The cancer in my bones are out of my control. Ibrance, my chemo, has worked in the past so I assume it will work now so I will ignore the cancer. My legs still work. I walk between 5000 to 7000 steps every day. My legs are wierd but they work. Every morning I ask myself the same question:"Are my legs getting better or worse?" And of course, I have no idea. There is no objective way to measure the difficulty in my legs. They hurt, but they work. This morning, I called Pearl Sea Cruise Line and switched my reservation to 2022. I decided I was in as good a shape now as two years ago. And I am assuming that one year will make little difference in my function. I am counting that the third try will be the charm!!

February 4, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. Cruise, 2021.

The Canadian government is on a roll. Last week they cancelled all flights in and out of Mexico and Canada. Today they calcelled all cruise ships in 2021 from entering Canadian ports. And the Nova Scotia authorities have canceloed the ferry to Yarmouth from Bar Harbour, Maine. Whew. Quite a list. My plans have been impacted. In 2020 I was booked on a cruise on the Pearl Sea Cruise line. My trip began in Portland, Maine and travelled in the Maritime provinces and up the St. Lawrence River ending up in Toronto. Then I was to stay on the ship and cruise the Great Lakes, stopping in Parry Sound, Ken's home town and ending up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I was to fly to Halifax for the summer. But just a month before the date to leave, the whole thing was cancelled. I cheerfully booked the same cruise for 2021 and I went to Texas in May. Now I just received information from Walt tht all cruises are cancelled for 2021, to resume in 2022. Now I must make a decision. When I booked the cruise I was to be 82. This year I would have been 83. And next year I would be 84. Am I going to be up to a long cruise in 2022? That is the question. I am not aware that I deteriorate every year. I am still walking and talking, both at the same time. The cruise line will ask me so I must figure it out. But for sure, this year I will go to Texas in mid May, then fly to Nova Scotia from San Antonio. I am pleased to be able to see the new house with everything in place and looking spiffy. So good things happen in every situation. But this year, once again, I will not be taking those cruises in 2021.

February 3, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. Pizza.

I have been eating the same food for weeks. When it came time to think about dinner, nothing in my fridge seemed appealing. Saturday night was the evening when I decided I needed a treat. I went through all my options and finally decided that I would enjoy a pizza. I love pizza. Several times in Mississippi I brought home a pizza when I had eaten lunch at Amerigo, the Italian restaurant. I even eat pizza for breakfast. A pizza lasts me several meals. I called the front desk at Playa and the young man was pleased to place an order for me. I asked for thin crust pizza with everything on it. Meat, vegetables, olives. I was pleased. I was even more pleased when the pizza arrived 40 minutes later, deliveed right to my door. The system is for the delivery man to arrive and stop at the front desk. The young man called me to say that the deliverery man had arrived. All I needed to do was to pay the 305 pesos to the delivery man and say thank you, which I did, along with a tip for the driver. I sat down and immediately ate my dinner. It was delicious. The crust was very thin and was coveed with lots of everything. I had pepporoni, sausage, onions, olives, totatoes. Just perfect. The interesting part was the taste, which was just different then I would eat at home. The pizza was a treat for me. Next I went down to the front desk to give the nice young man a tip, which he appreciated. Today I finished the pizza. I had eaten it for four meals and enjoyed it every time. I eat pizza cold which makes life easy for me. Even old ladies need a treat every so often and Saturday night was my night. Gold star for me and for the young man who ordered my pizza. I loved every bite.

February 2, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. Agatha Christie.

I have been reading Agatha Christie all my life but I knew almost nothing about her, except I knew she was English. And I knew she wrote hundreds of books and was famous. PBS a few weeks ago showed two programs on her. The first was a biography and the second a few days later a program they called Agatha Christies England. Unfortunately I missed the biggining parts of both but what I did see I enjoyed. But I still do not know how this proper English lady wrote all these murders about blood and gore. They discuss this in the biography show but it still makes no sense. There was lots more going on inside the lady than ever showed on the outside. The second show was intereting to me because they showed pictures of all the houses she had lived. And they showed the customs that she used throughout her life that all show up in her writings. It makes sense but when you see it in the pictures and then you hear the words in the books everything comes alive. I would like to see both shows again as I missed part of both but I enjoyed them both. But perhaps because I am interested in real estate, I enjoyed that second show the best. I loved seeing all those old houses. Now I must watch for the shows when they appear again. But I will probably not read any more Agatha Christie books or short stories. Enough is enough. But she was a wonder for sure.

February 1, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. The White Road.

Edmund De Waal wrote this book, The White Road. He also wrote the best seller, The Hare With Amber Eyes, which was wonderful. This book, The White Road, is his second book, published in 2015. When I ordered the book I started reading it bit by bit bul life got complicated so I put it on the pile of books to read when life became less hectic. That would be now. No life ould be less complicated than mine right now living by myself in Mexico. My timing was perfect and I am enjoying reading the book now. The book tells two tales. The first is the history and story of the discovery and production of porcelain. De Waal is a potter living in London, England. He has always been fascinated with porcelain. The second tale is the story of his search, visiting the places in the world where porcelain was developed. I am enjoying both parts of the stories which are inter woven throughout. I am still in China, where porcelain was originally manufactured, in the 15th Century. The English tried for years to get the secret and finally they did. I was taught to put milk in the cup before pouring in the hot tea. I was told the tea tastes better that way. The real reason for putting in milk first had to do with the inferior quality of the English porcelain. In the early years of English manufacture of porcelain, the cup would crack if the tea was too hot. So they learned to put milk in first. And it became proper. I still do it. Firs the milk, followed by the tea from the pot. I am still in China in the book but am enjoying the book enormously. And I look forward to reading the other places the author will visit and learn about throught the rest of the book. De Waal is a famous potter who has won many prizes. Fortunately he also takes time to write and for that I am grateful. This book is a good read.